One last stop on the Road to King of Pro-Wrestling!

Sho & Douki cheated El Desperado once, but will they do it again for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships?

OFFICIAL RESULTS

• Shoma Kato & Tatsuya Matsumoto VS Masatora Yasuda & Zane Jay; Shoma & Tatsuya win.
• Shota Umino VS Katsuya Murashima; Shota wins.
• Clark Connors & “Drilla” Dan Moloney VS SANADA & Yoshinobu Kanemaru; Connors & Drilla win, by count out.
• Six Man Tag: Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano & Tiger Mask VS EVIL, Don Fale & Dick Togo; Evil, Fale & Dick win.
• Yuya Uemura & Tomoaki Honma VS OSKAR & Yuto-Ice; Oskar & Yuto win.
• 8 Man Tag: Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi, Titan & Daiki Nagai VS Gabe Kidd, David Finlay, Taiji Ishimori & Gedo; Gabe, Finlay, Taiji & Gedo win.
• IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships: SHO & DOUKI VS El Desperado & KUUKAI; Sho & Douki win and retain the titles.

PLAY BY PLAY

Clark Connors & “Drilla” Dan Moloney VS SANADA & Yoshinobu Kanemaru!

One more time, from the top! 100 Proof & 44 Caliber haven’t been able to pin down The Cold-Blooded Snake & Heel Master, and this is the last stop before arriving at the Ryogoku Kokugikan on Monday, October 13th. Will these War Dogs finally take a bite out of Sanada & Kanemaru? Or will there just be more shenanigans and malarkey?

Once again, Drilla has stolen Sanada’s guitar for his own, and he taunts Sanada with it and the RIP Sanada shirt. The War Dogs rush the ring, but Sanada & Kanemaru kick low! Kanemaru runs up but Connors TOSSES him out! Sanada whips, but Drilla reverses to TOSS Sanada out! The War Dogs then build speed to WRECK Sanada & Kanemaru with dropkicks! Kanemaru hits commentary, Sanada falls in front of the fans, and the fans fire up. Drilla ROCKS Sanada, headlocks him, and the bell rings so this is on record! Drilla SMACKS Sanada off a chair, then JAMS him with the chair! And then CHOKES him with a rally towel!

Connors uses his shirt to CHOKE Kanemaru, and the ref reprimands. Drilla and Connors let go, the towel is returned to the fan, and Connors brings out WHEEL-SAN! The fans cheer as Connors aims at Kanemaru. Kanemaru dodges the attack to BOOT Connors! Kanemaru drags Connors up to POST him! Kanemaru then SMASHES Connors’ knee off the floor! Sanada brings Drilla around, Milano Collection AT is already worried, but Sanada SMACKS Drilla off a chair! Sanada makes Drilla take a seat, and SMACKS him with a fan’s water bottle! Kanemaru SMASHES Connor’s knee against Wheel-san! Kanemaru then puts Connors in the ring.

Sanada brings Drilla around, SMACKS him off another chair, and Drilla sputters. Sanada leaves Drilla behind while Kanemaru stomps Connors’ leg. Kanemaru tags Sanada, Sanada drags Connors up, and Sanada trips Connors to stomp away on the leg! Sanada paces, drags Connors up, and bumps him off buckles. Connors falls back, Sanada tags Kanemaru, and they split the wishbone! Kanemaru stomps Connors, CLUBS him, then puts him in a corner to stomp him more. Kanemaru whips corner to corner, runs in, and BOOTS! Kanemaru then reels Connors in, but Connors fights the suplex! Connors UPPERCUTS, but Kanemaru CLAWS the eyes!

Kanemaru runs, but he avoids the powerslam! Kanemaru kicks, whips, but Connors reverses, POWERSLAM after all! The fans fire up while both men are down! They crawl, hot tags to Sanada and Drilla! Drilla dodges to fire haymakers, and he DECKS Sanada! Drilla whips Sanada corner to corner, then runs in and LARIATS! Drilla climbs, and he rains down fists! The fans count along, TEN! Drilla whips then ELBOWS Sanada down! Drilla vows to finish it now, and he drags Sanada up. Canadian Rack, but Sanada claws free! Sanada SHOVES Drilla into the ref! Drilla comes back, waistlocks, but Sanada LOW BLOWS!

The fans boo but Sanada just grabs the guitar! Sanada aims at Drilla, SMASH- NO, Drilla dodges! But then Sanada waistlocks! Drilla LOW BLOWS Sanada! Drilla then winds up, but Sanada runs away! Drilla eggs Sanada on, the fans rally up, but Sanada stays outside. Drilla drops the guitar and says he’ll even close his eyes. Drilla turns around, Sanada slithers up, but then Drilla grabs the guitar again. The ref has Drilla stand down, and the ring count begins. Drilla says to wait on that, give Sanada a chance to come inside. Sanada steps up, but Drilla is right at the ropes. Sanada stays back so the count starts after all.

Sanada paces, but then he heads for the exit! Sanada just wants it to end here? We hit 15! Then 17! Drilla refreshes the ring count, giving Sanada one last chance! Sanada is annoyed, but Drilla continues to tempt Sanada with the guitar. We reach 15 again, then 17! Sanada stares Drilla down as we hit TWENTY, letting Drilla win!

Winners: Clark Connors & “Drilla” Moloney

Kanemaru storms in, but Drilla SUPERKICKS the whiskey outta him! And Connors SPEARS! Drilla gets the mic, and he reminds us that he already said this match will have NO RULES! And Sanada still hasn’t accepted! So Sanada has two choices: Accept the No Disqualifications, or this guitar gets crushed on this useless mother effer’s head! Drilla asks Sanada his answer! Sanada grabs a mic to say hold on, calm down! Drilla says he’s NOT gonna calm down! Get in this ring or else! Sanada says no thanks. Drilla says in that case…! Sanada shouts hey, okay, hold on! Sanada has Walker Stewart pass on the word: Don’t smash that guitar, it’s worth more than Drilla makes in a year.

Drilla says he doesn’t care, he’ll break it either way! Sanada says okay, just don’t crush it. Then make a choice! Drilla winds up, Sanada says okay, okay! He accepts! No Disqualifications for King of Pro-Wrestling! So please, don’t crush the guitar! Drilla says good, see you in Ryogoku! And then he SMASHES the guitar on Kanemaru anyway! Sanada is stuck now. Will he manage to survive this War Dog? Or will October 13th truly be the end of Sanada?

After Six Man Tag: Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano & Tiger Mask VS EVIL, Don Fale & Dick Togo…

Once again, The Rogue General saves the King of Darkness with a GRENADE, and then Evil makes Tiger Mask TAP to the Scorpion Deathlock! They mug Tiger just because, but Oleg storms in! The House just mugs him now! They whip him into the corner, and Dick ELBOWS him! Evil LARIATS! Fale SPLASHES! Then they snapmare Oleg, Dick goes up top, but Oleg kicks free! Oleg drags Dick off the corner, but Evil LOW BLOWS! The fans boo, but EVERYTHING IS EVIL! The fans boo more but Dick snatches the NEVER Openweight Championship for Evil. Evil stands over Oleg with the belt in hande.

Evil again STEALS this belt, taking it with him as he leaves. Dick even SNATCHES Tiger Mask’s mask! Young Lions hurry to cover him up! But will Evil actually earn the right of calling himself a champion? Or will he finally be put behind BARS?

After Yuya Uemura & Tomoaki Honma VS OSKAR & Yuto-Ice…

Everybody’s Kokeshi goes down to another SLEEPER SWING from the giant German, but that’s not the end of it. The Knock Out Brothers mug Yuya, and even knock the Young Lions aside to get at him! Yuto fires DRAGON STOMPS down on Yuya! The fans boo, the bell rings again and again, but Yuto doesn’t stop until Oskar says they should destroy Yuya. Oskar drags Yuya up, scoops, but SHOTA is here! The Roughneck saves his tag partner and fires off forearms! The fans fire up, but then Yuto shoves Shota to the gut wrench! K O B on Shota!! The Knock Out Brothers stand tall over their challengers with their belts in hand. But will this be the scene in Ryogoku? Or will Roughneck & Heat Storm burn down Oskar & Yuto-Ice?

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships: SHO & DOUKI VS El Desperado & KUUKAI!

The Murder Machine helped Japones Del Mal quite truly steal the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, and that left a bad taste in everyone’s mouths. But now The Rogue Luchador has a new amigo teaming with him, and they’re both ready to serve some justice. Will Desperado & Kuukai tear down The House of Torture? Or will #Shouki find a new way to stack the deck?

The introductions are made, the tag titles are raised, but of course Sho has to talk… Sho says that of course they’d have to face a couple bumpkins in a rundown stadium like this. Kuukai’s lucky to have this title match at all, not that he’s gonna win! Sho drops the mic, the teams sort out, and Despy starts against Sho. The bell rings, and Sho bails right out! The fans boo but Despy pursues! Sho kicks, Despy blocks, but Douki attacks! Shouki mugs Despy, Kuukai storms over, but then Douki gets him first! The fans boo and Red Shoes reprimands, but Sho drags Despy up to SMACK off the apron! Despy staggers, Douki brings Kuukai around to CLUB him.

Douki puts Kuukai in now, and Sho does the same with Despy. Sho digs his boots into Despy in one corner, Douki CHOKES Kuukai in the other. The fans boo, Red Shoes reprimands, but Shouki whip Despy & Kuukai, only for them to reverse! Shouki still try and attack, but Despy and Kuukai dodge to then run in and LARIAT! Then they send Shouki into each other! Kuukai runs, Despy gives him the boost, DOUBLE DROPKICK! The fans cheer and Despy drags Sho up. Despy whips Sho to a corner, then storms up to CHOP! The fans cheer again while Sho is stinging. Despy brings Sho over and bumps him off Kuukai’s knee!

Despy tags Kuukai, the fans applaud, and Kuukai whips. Sho reverses but Kuukai tilt-o-whirls to RANA! And then he DROPKICKS! The fans fire up with Kuukai and he stomps Sho at the ropes. Sho uses the ropes as defense so Kuukai has to back off. Kuukai storms up to stomp Sho again, then drags him into the ring. Kuukai wrenches and wristlocks, then he tags Sho. Despy CLUBS Sho’s arm, then wrenches him to YANK the arm! Sho drops to his knees, Despy brings him up, but Sho fires forearms. Despy ROCKS Sho and he falls right over! Cover, TWO! The fans rally as Despy brings Sho around to suplex.

Sho fights the lift, sends Despy to the ropes, but Despy DECKS Douki first! Sho kicks and whips, Despy reverses to TOSS Sho out! Despy then builds speed, but Douki trips him up! Douki drags Despy out to POST him! The fans boo but Despy is down! Red Shoes reprimands, but Douki CHOKES Sho with a towel! Sho CHOKES Kuukai! The fans boo more but Shouki stop the choking to then drag Despy into the back of the crowd! Douki SMACKS Despy off bleachers! Red Shoes reprimands but Sho has a chair! Sho JAMS Kuukai up during the distraction! Sho puts Kuukai in the ring and has the chair! Sho grins as he sees Red Shoes busy stopping Douki.

Sho HEADSHOTS Kuukai with the chair! The fans boo but Sho hides the busted evidence! Sho then pushes Kuukai out of the ring and to the floor! Douki leaves Despy behind while the fans rally up. Despy clutches his head from also hitting chairs. The ring count starts, the fans rally up harder, and Despy slowly rises. Sho wants this to speed up but Red Shoes stays consistent. We hit 10 of 20, then 15! Despy hobbles and rolls in at 18! But Sho stomps away on him! And CHOKES him! Douki joins in on that, but Red Shoes counts. They both stop, but then Sho stands on Despy’s bad arm. Red Shoes counts, Sho stops, but he distracts the ref from Douki wrapping the bad arm around ropes!

The fans boo, Douki lets go before Red Shoes catches him, and Sho tags Douki in. Shouki mugs Despy, then they double whip. Despy reverses to send Douki away, then he ROCKS Sho, and sends Douki into Sho! Sho falls, Despy reels Douki in for a BIG back suplex! The fans fire up and Despy crawls, but Kuukai is still in bad shape! Shouki mugs Despy again! The fans rally for Despy but Douki wrenches, hammerlocks, and RAMS him into buckles. Tag to Sho, he drags Despy outside, and then Shouki bring Despy around to lift and POST! Despy falls back, Red Shoes reprimands, and the fans rally up. Douki drags Despy up and onto the corner.

Sho is there, and they put the arms through ropes. Douki pulls Despy against the crossbar, then Sho runs to KNEE Despy in the shoulder! Cover, but Red Shoes refuses! He saw all the shenanigans! Sho stomps Despy, covers, TWO! DOUBLE WRISTLOCK! Despy flails and fights around as Sho pulls on the arm! Douki plays defense against Kuukai, but Despy finds the ROPEBREAK! The fans cheer and Red Shoes counts, so Sho lets go at 4. Tag to Douki, and Douki stomps Despy around. Despy fires body shots, but Douki KICKS the arm! Douki runs, but Despy scoops to BACKBREAKER! The fans fire up while both men are down!

Despy crawls, but Sho hurries on and stomps him down! Then Sho goes after Kuukai! Kuukai GAMANGIRIS! Despy arm-drags Sho! The fans rally up, Despy hot tags Kuukai! And he goes up to DOUBLE CROSSBODY Shouki! The fans fire up, and Kuukai wrenches Douki, catches Sho, RANA ARM-DRAG COMBO! Then he runs to HANDSPRING DOUBLE ARM-DRAG! Shouki bails out, Kuukai builds speed, and Kuukai TORNILLO TOPES! Direct hit on both Sho and Douki, and the fans fire up as Kuukai rises. Kuukai drags Douki up and puts him back in the ring. Then he storms in and drags Douki up again for a facelock.

Kuukai lifts Douki, tucks him in, hammerlock and SIT-DOWN BUSTER! Cover, TWO! Douki survives and the fans rally up as Kuukai looms over him. Kuukai drags Douki up, wrenches, but Douki blocks the scoop. Kuukai kicks low, runs but into a roll-up! And roll through, into the ITALIAN STRETCH #32! Kuukai hurries backwards, to the ROPEBREAK! The fans cheer but Douki doesn’t let go until Red Shoes counts 4. Douki then drags Kuukai up, reels him into a Gory Especial, but Kuukai arm-drags free! Douki runs, ducks ‘n’ whips, but Kuukai wheelbarrows to casadora! Cover, TWO, and Douki wheelbarrow lifts!

Douki has the full nelsons, but Kuukai slips free and waistlocks. Douki elbows Kuukai, goes to run, but Kuukai reels him back in. Douki uses the British Escape, but Kuukai ducks the enzigiri! SOBAT! KNEE LIFT! SUPER- NO, Douki ducks to ENZGIRI! Douki runs, but Kuukai dodges and tilt-o-whirls, DDT! The fans fire up while both men are down! Kuukai and Douki crawl, hot tags to Despy and Sho! Sho dodges, Despy dodges, then Despy kicks and- NO, Sho bends fingers! Despy breaks free, but Sho CLAWS eyes! Sho runs, but into a BIG back suplex! The fans rally up as Sho goes to a corner. Despy runs corner to corner, and LARIATS!

Despy reels Sho in, then suplexes high and hard! Cover, TWO! The fans fire up with Despy as he drags Sho back up. Despy reels Sho in for the gut wrench, but Sho wrenches free and bends fingers! Despy breaks free again, but Sho THROWS Despy down by his mask! The fans rally for Despy but Sho drags him up to waistlock. Despy fights the lift, switches, but Sho elbows him! Despy swings, misses, and Sho POP-UP into the ARMBAR!! Despy flails, clasps hands, but Sho pries at the fingers! Despy rolls Sho to a cover, TWO, into STRETCH MUFFLER! The fans fire up as Sho endures, but he bends fingers to get the DOUBLE WRISTLOCK!

Despy endures, and he powers up to STRETCH MUFFLER! The fans fire up as Despy thrashes Sho’s leg! Sho flails, reaches out, ROPEBREAK! Despy lets go, clutches his bad arm, but Sho clutches his leg. The fans rally again and Despy rises up. Despy shakes out the bad arm, goes back to Sho, but Sho HOTSHOTS him! Sho runs, and LARIATS! Sho hurries to cover, TWO! Despy is still in this and the fans fire up. Sho huffs ‘n’ puffs and vows to end this now. Sho drags Despy up, reels him in, then tucks the arms, only for Despy to fight it! Despy wrenches out, KNEES low, then whips. Sho reverses, Douki KICKS Despy, and Sho SPEARS!

The fans rally but Sho tags Douki in. Douki BLASTS Kuukai, then runs in at Despy! Douki LARIATS, then Sho storms up! Sho puts Despy up top and Douki vows they’ll end this! But Despy BOOTS Sho, ROCKS Douki, then sends Sho into Douki! MICHINOKU DRIVER on Sho! Douki is still up top and he leaps, only for Despy to dodge! Despy returns to SPEAR! The fans fire up and Despy tags Kuukai! Despy sends Kuukai in for a LARIAT! Then feed to the SPINEBUSTER! Then Despy sets Douki up for Kuukai’s basement DROPKICK! Despy drags Douki up to then feed Kuukai’s cravat, ASAI SLINGBLADE! Cover, TWO!

Kuukai hooks the legs up, steps over, and DEATHLOCK BOW ‘N’ ARROW!! Despy trips Sho up, drags him down, and keeps him away! Douki flails, reaches out, but Sho SHOVES Despy onto Red Shoes! The fans boo but Sho stomps away on Kuukai! Douki is free, but Despy has Sho! Sho LOW BLOWS Despy! The fans boo again but Sho grins. Sho drags Kuukai up, but Kuukai blocks a low blow! SUPERKICK! Sho is down and the fans fire up! Douki has the Death Pipe! But Kuukai dodges to BACKSTABBER! The fans fire up as Kuukai now drags Douki to a drop zone! Kuukai goes up, up, and MOONSAULT! Cover, TWO!! Douki survives and Kuukai can’t believe it!

The fans fire up as Kuukai drags Douki up! Kuukai wrenches and scoops, but Douki slips free! Sho has the cookie sheet! But Kuukai turns things around on Douki! Sho holds back, and then Despy YANKS him down! The fans fire up as Kuukai O’Conner Rolls! TWO, Kuukai flies into the COOKIE SHEET!! Cover, with tights! SHOUKI WINS!!

Winners: Sho & Douki, by pinfall (still IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions)

The fans boo, but Sho & Douki cheat another one! And they’re on the run like the criminals they are, even as Sho grabs the mic to speak! “Just like you saw, we’re on a different level!” The fans boo, but Sho says he’s not gonna bother talking to “Tokorozawa country bumpkins!” They can listen to those losers speak! Sho throws the mic away, and then he and Douki finish fleeing. But considering the shape Kuukai is in and how upset Despy is, they don’t feel like talking, either. Will Despy & Kuuki simply have to regroup and try again in Super Junior Tag League?

My Thoughts:

A very good Road to King of Pro-Wrestling, though mostly another tune-up/go-home show. Drilla forcing Sanada’s hand by threatening Kanemaru with the expensive guitar was some good stuff, though typically a Heel move over a Face move. Evil stealing the NEVER title again surely means Oleg wins on Monday, though hard to say. The Knockout Brothers of course pinned Honma for their win, but then they stand tall against Yuya & Shota. As I said with the other shows this week, I feel like KOB is gonna retain, they can’t just be transitional champions to Yuya & Shota. Though I think that depends on the World Tag League plans.

Very good main event for the Junior Heavyweight tag titles, but Sho & Douki winning via cheating was an obvious outcome. Pretty sure Shouki will go through the Super Junior Tag League as champs, can’t wait to see who gets in there with them.

My Score: 8.8/10